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Is Hr Of Big Firms And Companies Spoilt?

Discussion in 'General Discussions - USA & Canada' started by Naari, Jun 15, 2017.

  1. Naari

    Naari Platinum IL'ite

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    Hi ILs,

    I want share my recent experience with the HR department of a big firm. I was looking for a change and recently applied for a position with this firm online through their website. They are a big firm in the area and reputed on the west coast for their services and quality. Few days later, I got an email from the HR Manager saying she was interested in meeting me for a interview on a proposed day and time. I thanked her for her response and said I would be happy to meet her, but that time does not work for me and would like to meet her in another time slot, if that worked for her. I gave her some alternate time slots too in case she was busy at that time and asked her to let me know her preference and confirm. Fast forward, it's been over 3 business days; I haven't heard back from her. And, only reason I can think of is that she (the HR manager) did not like the fact that I did not accept her proposed time of meeting right away (like she may be used to) and maybe she is super spoilt by candidates acting exactly like they want them to in the hiring process. I, on the other hand wasn't trying to be difficult, but genuinely had conflicts at her proposed time.

    I was thinking about this and recall having had some similar experiences in the past when the HR of big companies act so inflexible, don't care about the candidates and want them to dance to their whims and fancies. Now, I understand they are on the hiring side and in their heads they probably think they have an upper hand, but I see hiring as a 2 way process. Like you as a job seeker are looking for the next great opportunity to work for a big name, great role, the hiring company is also looking for good, experienced candidates like you and I truly believe that in this case, I had what the company was exactly looking for.

    So, my question to you ladies is, why is not there an equality or let's say a 2 way respect or bargaining power when it comes to dealing with HR of big companies? Do you think a lot of ass-kissing, acting per the HR's whims and fancies are responsible for spoiling them and having unreasonable expectations? This kind of attitude has always disturbed me. Pls share your experiences and thoughts.
     
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  2. Umanga

    Umanga Gold IL'ite

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    This is normal human behaviour. They would not act this way if it was a relationship of equals. You may not be desperate for a job but most people are. They would jump at any opportunity given to them.
     
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  3. Iravati

    Iravati Platinum IL'ite

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    My experiences have been very different. Is there any chance that your HR experiences in big companies could be specific to your domain. I don't know. I've no clue. Because you mentioned that you directly applied to the HR, is your experience tied up to that outright approach. The delay or lapse in rescheduling could be because they are understaffed. Big companies may not house a proportionate HR staff.

    In my field, HR only facilitates interviews, i.e, coordinates between the recruiting team and the applying candidate but the availability and vetting process is driven by the department head. HR hardly frets over any turndowns. They mediate the communication between the recruiting team and the resumes. Candidates cancel, reschedule and sometimes don't even turn up to the interviews. HR cannot afford to take slight at such unexceptionable routine. They are professional and they coordinate not just one person or one region but multitude of screening rounds within the organisation. No one expects you to be ready at the first available slot. As you mentioned that you had similar experiences elsewhere, may be it is specific to your domain or the size of the company [mind: you are just one case in their recruitment docket. Any delay might not be a wilful vengeance. Give it a thought. Don't take this as I am implying that you are wrongheaded]

    A distant but memorable experience I had was with a HR who recruited me in one continent (head count available only there) and tried hard to place me in another continent because I wanted to travel to that place. Though such intercontinental affairs are common in my field, it was heartening back then and even now because I am a nobody in the company, just a cog in the machine. Yet, people, teams, HR and company culture are sensitive to a would-be-employee's needs. I could be wrong here but isn't HR the funny and friendliest team in the company esp. when you are negotiating the terms of the employment to ensure that you are not shortchanged. The HR comes across as a funny, amiable and chirpy team in the firms that I've worked for.
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2017
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  4. blessings1010

    blessings1010 Gold IL'ite

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    It is all supply and demand-driven scenario. In bigger companies, HR is mostly concerned with filling this gap and scheduling like another poster mentioned. They also tend to keep a larger resource pool ( pre-selected and gathered candidate profiles in their database) of the candidates with the desired skill sets. So many times, you will see the first interest response from HR and then they tend to match up their demand with the existing resource pool and spend time scheduling with the actual interviewers in specific departments. Usually, if the demand is urgent, this whole process gets done faster, from the first contact to a background check to the final offer. But if the demand is not urgent, it might take longer time. It also depends on the level of workforce you are joining. And at times, it is plain bad time management on HR part. Sometimes, HR leaves office without any automatic out of office emails or sometimes they tend to answer to emails only when they have specific answers.

    Also, HR is one such field where human attitudes and behavior are so varied. So when one HR manager/ rep will be a super good example of ideal HR, the other ones will still be struggling to perform the ideal HR role. So I would say, please do no let this or a few similar incidents create a judgment in your mindset.

    My personal experience has been a mix of both. At one time, I have spent months working on a full-time position with HR manager, spent a couple of days in multiple rounds of interviews with employees and director there, only to standstill everything because of the lack of demand for their services in the market I was expected to join. At other times, I got same day response, same week interview schedule and within 2 weeks got a final offer to join.

    I would say, wait till she gets back to you, before contacting her again. You would not want to waste your time if they do not value yours.
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2017
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  5. Naari

    Naari Platinum IL'ite

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    @Iravati: Thanks for sharing your perspective and experience. Yes, possibly related to my domain. I have noticed that even among recruiters there is difference between recruiters (from recruiting agencies) and HR department / Manager employed by /working directly for the company. The former are more the mediator types like you mention and the ones employed by the company and working for the company are the ones who I have had such experiences with. On a side note, I have also always felt that their interview questions are so hypothetical / situational and so non-pragmatic, that I find myself giving hypothetical answers too!:) It only gets real from the next round from the Interview with the Hiring Manager. But that's a separate issue altogether, I guess.

    Though, I have had some good experiences too and met some good HR ppl too, my point was mostly in the context of how the candidates are expected to share feedback after every interview with the recruiter, send out thank you notes, continuously show to the company them at every stage that you are super interested in them, while the HR can do anything they wish like keep you lingering for a response even when they promised to respond by a certain date, not updating candidates on several occasions if there's a freeze in the hiring process or delays in the decision making process due to any reason. So, my question was why these double standards or difference in expectations from candidates and the hiring company ?

    I am really glad though that you have had positive experiences and I hope the ppl I deal with in the future make me change mine too!
     
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  6. ashneys

    ashneys Platinum IL'ite

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    I have been a hr recruiter and I can give you a few reasons about why you may not have heard back from the hr view.

    Concerned dept interviewer may have given a specific time slot to the hr (this is a major criteria wherever it applies) - your timing wouldn't have worked

    They would have had enough applicants at their required slot

    They may have found you inflexible or that you may not be able to accommodate with their demands

    Hr depts are usually tightly packed and at times under staffed, so it can be challenging to be accommodative all the time. But they are a friendly dept as they have to interact with the whole organisation. And just like any other department there are both good and bad people here too.
     
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  7. Naari

    Naari Platinum IL'ite

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    @blessings1010 I agree with you , one not so ideal HR person, does not make them all bad. I am going to wait & see what happens here.
     
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  8. Elsa

    Elsa Gold IL'ite

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    Job search can be extremely stressful and tiring process. And with issues like this, it can be even more stressful.

    Most often than not, the hiring managers decide to pause the hiring process due to lack of budget, or lack of projects as well. They post a job opening expecting a deal to work out, but then due to whatever reasons, that slows down too. Or it could because the hiring manager was told to hire someone from within the company and wait until the transition happens. Or the position may have been offered to someone, but they decided to take backups. There could be many reasons like this. It might not be because you were inflexible.

    Good luck with your job search.
     
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